This year, we are proud to announce that we’re honoring Walter “Walt” Douglas, Chairman, Avis Ford with the Sankofa Black Business Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Douglas moved to Detroit in 1966 and was deeply moved by the July 1967 riots in Detroit. He began volunteering around the city, and his efforts were noticed by city leaders. Ibn 1972, he became the vice president of New Detroit, Inc, a non-profit founded in 1967 to deal with the city’s racial and employment tensions. He was also a trusted advisor to Mayor Coleman Young. In 1978 he was named president of New Detroit and remained in the position until he decided to move to the private sector in 1985. Walt entered into a car dealer ownership minority training program hosted by Ford Motor Company to give more African Americans a chance at ownership.
In 1986, Douglas purchased a share in Avis Ford in suburban Detroit, a historic dealership owned by the founder of the Avis Rent-a-Car System. He became majority owner in 1992. Since, 1992 he has earned a host of awards for the success of his dealership, and his continued work within the Detroit community as a philanthropist. In 2006, he turned over the business operation to his son, Mark.
PRESENTED BY
Lifetime Achievement
Mr. Walter Douglas
Avis Ford
Corporation of the Year
Comcast Business Solutions
Political Advocate of the Year
Mary Sheffield
City of Detroit (Democrat)
Political Advocate of the Year
Consuella Jordan
Black Business of the Year
Piston Group
Vinnie Johnson
Next Generation Entrepreneur
Melissa Butler
The Lip Bar
Legends Award
Nathan G. Conyers
Founder and President
of Conyers Riverside Ford, Inc.
Woman Entrepreneur of the Year
Pat Cole
Excellence in Media and Journalism
Carolyn Clifford
WXYZ Channel 7 News
Posthumous Award
Douglass Diggs
Keynote Speaker
Adrienne Trimble
National Minority Supplier
Development Council
National President
Mistress of Ceremony
Tati Amare
WDIV – Live in the D